


I Sit On You

by Padraigen



Series: Happy Steve Bingo 2019 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Slash, Team Bonding, Team as Family, lapsitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 10:17:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20722583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Padraigen/pseuds/Padraigen
Summary: Tony smiled, ignoring the nerves unsettling his stomach. It was only Steve. They’d grown friendlier throughout their time as teammates, even if they weren’t necessarilyfriends.Tony didn’t think Cap would shove him off or be overly offended if Tony just…—Happy Steve Bingo 2019 prompt square: Sitting On Someone's Lap.





	I Sit On You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the Happy Steve Bingo 2019 square "Sitting On Someone's Lap."
> 
> This work is unbeta'd. I apologize for any glaring mistakes.
> 
> Enjoy!

It started after the battle with the Chitauri.

Tony invited the squad back to his place for a movie night after shawarma. He hadn’t really expected any of them to agree, so he hadn’t thought ahead to the damage done to his penthouse by Loki.

There was—naturally—only a single, untouched couch sitting in front of the TV. Shattered glass and other debris littered the floor surrounding the area, and Tony frowned when he saw his favorite leather chair had been utterly crushed.

He’d have to bill Thor for that.

Before he could suggest they move down to a lower floor, Widow had none-too-gently shoved Captain Hardass onto one of the cushions and plopped herself on top of his lap. The look of surprise on his dirtied face almost made the entire battle and subsequent almost being lost in space worth it.

With only two couch cushions remaining, Tony took it upon himself to take a seat on the cushion furthest from Rogers and stared pointedly at Bruce, patting his lap far more suggestively than was probably appropriate, considering the way Bruce’s cheeks reddened and his feet shifted uncomfortably. Still, Tony refused to be the first one to look away and, eventually, Bruce huffed and slowly walked over to Tony. He awkwardly lowered himself, trying to put more of his weight on the arm rest than on Tony himself, which was just as courteous as Tony would have expected from him.

Tony rolled his eyes and grabbed his hips, forcing Bruce to sit fully in his lap. He shifted his weight until they were both comfortable and then wrapped a firm arm around Bruce’s waist so he wouldn’t try to move away. Once they were both situated, Tony looked pointedly at Thor and Barton.

Thor grinned and easily took the seat in the middle, and while Barton was sure to complain loudly that he’d rather sit on the broken glass—it wouldn’t be the first time—it didn’t take any more than a kick in the stomach from Romanoff—that he dodged only just barely—for him to plant himself on Thor’s lap.

Tony asked JARVIS to put on something not-explodey—he’d surprisingly had enough of that for today—and tried to pretend that he was actually watching the movie and not just the way Rogers awkwardly tried to find a place to put his hands that was adamantly not anywhere near Romanoff. Given how much more entertaining it was than whatever JARVIS had put on (and the way Romanoff was smirking at him), he thought it was fair to say he hadn’t quite succeeded.

*

Tony thought that would be the end of it when the guys—and gal—made a break for it the next morning, and he didn’t see them again until the next catastrophe struck. And strike it did, when a man with shocking blue hair and a penchant for setting things on fire terrorized Times Square.

When the Avengers had dealt with him, Tony had once again invited them back to his place. His penthouse was much less wrecked this time around, but despite there being more than enough seats for each of them to take for themselves, Romanoff still somehow ended up on Rogers’ lap, who had taken the same seat he’d sat in the first time. Thor, who Tony learned was back on Earth for an indeterminate amount of time, proceeded to collapse onto the seat next to him, grabbing Barton by the wrist before Barton could so much as protest and forcing him sit on his lap.

Barton only shrugged, situating himself more comfortably, and leaned back into Thor’s firm chest.

Tony glanced at Bruce, who sighed much more exasperatedly than Tony thought was really warranted and took the remaining seat next to Thor, gesturing for Tony to join him. Tony grinned and did exactly as he was told, plonking himself on top of Bruce with enough force to make him gasp.

Thus began a pattern.

*

At some point after that night, the others unofficially moved into the Tower and Friday night was henceforth declared movie night.

The lapsitting became a “thing” that just happened, whether all of them were present or not. Usually Bruce paired up with Tony and Barton paired up with Thor. Sometimes, though, Barton would sit on Tony’s lap if Thor wasn’t available, and sometimes Bruce sat with Thor. Sometimes other people outside their little niche would join, and Tony would find himself with a lapful of Pepper—or maybe Pepper would find herself with a lapful of Tony. Rhodey refused to sit on anyone’s lap after that one time Barton laughed so hard he “accidentally” pushed him off, and on one memorable occasion, Tony agreed to take on the might of Thor. He regretted that decision not five minutes into the movie, swearing he would suffocate before it was even halfway finished.

There was an unspoken agreement about Rogers and Romanoff, however. Only Romanoff ever sat in Rogers’ lap, and Rogers never sat in hers or anyone else’s. If Romanoff wasn’t there, then he sat by himself.

And Tony… well, Tony was an old pro at broken agreements. So when Romanoff and Barton were off on a mission near the Gulf, Bruce was stuck in his lab forgetting other people existed, and Thor was with Dr. Foster in New Mexico, he wasn’t about to break with tradition.

Steve was already on the couch when Tony entered the living room. He looked like he’d been there awhile, his sketchbook open on his lap and his pencil flying across the page. He didn’t look up when Tony came into view, not even seeming to notice him standing there.

Tony smiled, ignoring the nerves unsettling his stomach. It was only Steve. They’d grown friendlier throughout their time as teammates, even if they weren’t necessarily _friends_. Tony didn’t think Cap would shove him off or be overly offended if Tony just…

Well, come to think of it, Tony would have to interrupt his drawing. Tony scrutinized him carefully—he did seem to be concentrating fairly hard going by his furrowed eyebrows and pinched face. His tongue was poking out through his lips, the sight of which made Tony’s heart flutter weirdly in his chest.

Oh, well. There was nothing else for it. He stalked over to Steve.

“’Scuse me, Cap.”

Steve glanced up briefly before doing a double-take as Tony grabbed his sketchbook and shut it, putting it on the table beside the couch. He did the same with Steve’s pencil, setting it atop the sketchbook, and then swiftly plopped down on top of him. Steve’s confused spluttering would have been amusing if not for the way Tony’s heart rabbited in his chest. He hadn’t really thought of a plan to play this off if Steve decided he wasn’t having any of it. Tony blustered on anyway.

“So, I was thinking _Top Gun_ tonight, whaddya think? Rhodey will be pissed that we watched it without him. He’ll go on and on about how overrated it is, but secretly he loves it.” Tony couldn’t help the way the words tripped out of his mouth. He thought even Steve would be able to pick up on how rambly they were.

“Uh…”

“Cap?”

“Right! I mean— sure. Yes. We can watch whatever you want.” Steve was noticeably tense underneath him, which only served to make Tony tense up even further. This was a terrible idea. What had possessed him to do this?

“Perfect. JARVIS?”

Without further prompting, JARVIS dimmed the lights and started playing _Top Gun_.

The first twenty minutes of the movie they sat in uncomfortable silence. Not even Tony could bring himself to say anything, his thoughts too twisted up in asking himself over and over again in various explicit ways why he’d thought this would be a good idea.

Eventually, though, his back and neck started to ache from the stiff way he was holding himself, and he thought, fuck it.

He forced his body to relax, shifting himself as minimally as he could to find a more comfortable position. He allowed his head to tip back and rest on Steve’s shoulder, relieved to find it helped alleviate the pain in his neck.

And once he’d allowed himself to stop stressing, he couldn’t help but notice how pleasant Steve’s lap actually was. It was no wonder Natasha took this spot every time. Steve was a big guy, which Tony knew intellectually, but having the physical proof so near was something else entirely. Tony felt enveloped by Steve. Enveloped by his warmth, by his scent—simple aftershave and maybe a hint of old leather—by his soft breathing tickling his ear. Sitting there felt like security, like somewhere he could fall asleep without the worries falling asleep usually came with.

Tony might have been disgusted by these thoughts if he weren’t so cozy that he just didn’t care.

Steve himself loosened up in small enough increments that Tony hardly even noticed until the movie was coming to an end and he was on the brink of unconsciousness. Steve hadn’t touched him in all that time, but then again, he hadn’t touched Natasha at all that first time, either. Tony tried not to look into it that much.

“Tony.”

“Mmm…”

“Tony, the movie’s finished.” Tony felt the body beneath him shift, the movement startling him awake.

“Wha…?” His eyes adjusted to the dim light enough that he could make out the TV. It was turned off.

How long had the movie been over for?

“Are you going to go to bed?”

Steve’s low voice was a shock to his system. Tony practically leapt from his lap, like a cat but not nearly as graceful. When had he fallen asleep?

“Um… yeah. I’mma—bed. Right.” Tony almost lost his balance turning on his heel. “This was fun. We should… yeah. Night, Cap.”

He high-tailed it to his bedroom, pretending he didn’t hear Steve’s soft, “Have a good night, Tony.”

*

The whole squad was in the Tower for the next movie night, and Tony hadn’t had anything planned. Really, he hadn’t.

But when he got up to his penthouse from his workshop—where he’d dithered about all day, accomplishing absolutely nothing of note, too busy remembering the way it had felt to fall asleep so easily in Steve’s lap—the first thing he noticed was Steve, sitting in his designated spot, deep in conversation with Thor.

The second thing he noticed was Natasha, walking in from the kitchen with a very clear destination.

Tony didn’t even think. He just darted forward, hurtling across the room like there were murderous aliens riding his ass, and more or less jumped right on top of Steve. Steve’s ensuing grunt was more from surprise than any actual discomfort, and Tony promptly ignored it.

“Hah!” he crowed, inordinately satisfied by the way Natasha’s eyes widened for a very brief moment before she schooled her expression into something exceedingly unimpressed. She merely shrugged and instead sat down on top of Thor, who had been watching the proceedings with clear confusion but was quick to accommodate for her.

It was then that Clint and Bruce decided to make an appearance, and neither of them bat an eye at Tony on Steve’s lap. Clint plonked down onto the seat next to Thor, pulling Bruce with him as he demanded they watch _Airplane_.

Tony made himself relax as he had the first time, letting himself be ensconced by Steve. Steve himself was similarly idle, though he still didn’t touch Tony at all.

At some point Natasha got up to pop some popcorn. She came back with a single bowl that was immediately reached for by Tony, Clint, and Thor. As they fought for it like a bunch of children, Clint was able to shove at Tony enough that he almost fell from Steve’s lap and onto the floor. He would have, too, if not for the way Steve’s hands grabbed his hips to hold him in place.

It was in fact Bruce who ended up on the floor, grumbling and demanding that Clint stand up so they could switch places.

Tony watched this exchange with a focus he was inwardly directing to the feel of Steve’s warm, broad palms on his waist. He tried not to let the effect Steve was having on him show visibly, even as it was the only thing he could think about throughout the rest of the movie.

Because Steve never let go. His grip loosened to a point that Tony thought Steve might have forgotten where his hands even were (and he certainly wasn’t going to draw attention to it). The remainder of the movie was spent with him ardently wishing the minutes would stretch for as long as possible just so he’d never have to get up and Steve would never have to let go. But, unfortunately, the movie did come to an end eventually—much too soon, really—and Steve did let go of him, and Tony was forced to stand up and go to bed.

Tony didn’t sleep much that night. His mind wouldn’t let him forget how it felt to be touched by Steve like that long enough for him to make it shut up.

*

Over the next week, Tony convinced himself that he was overreacting and no one else was this affected by someone touching them. For their next movie night, Tony told himself he wasn’t going to hog Steve to himself again. His “feelings” for Steve were enough of a pain in the ass to deal with without making them so fucking obvious added to the list.

So when Tony arrived in his penthouse fashionably late on Friday evening, he made sure not to spend too much of his attention watching Steve and Natasha laughing in the kitchen and went right over to the couch and took the seat next to Thor, who was, predictably, in the middle. Not so predictable was Bruce, already sitting in Thor’s lap and apparently… asleep.

Tony decided not to ask and instead let himself be dragged into a conversation with Thor about a mystical creature on Asgard, something, something, yadda, yadda, yadda, Tony wasn’t really paying attention even though he was trying really hard.

Not hard enough not to notice Natasha sitting down beside Thor, apparently, or Clint making himself comfortable on her lap.

Tony quickly looked up to find Steve. He didn’t have to try very hard because Steve was standing almost directly in front of him, a sheepish smile on his lips and his cheeks a pretty pink.

“May I…?”

Tony stared at him like a doofus for only a couple of seconds before he realized what it was Steve was asking, and then he nodded rapidly, untangling his fingers where they had been folded across his lap and trying to make himself look as cozy as possible (though he had no idea what that actually entailed).

Steve’s smile stretched into something that could better be described as a grin, and he settled onto Tony’s lap with a gentleness that no super-soldier should be capable of possessing.

“This alright?” Steve asked quietly.

Tony couldn’t think of a way to appropriately articulate that this was the best thing to ever have happened to him, so he simply replied, “Perfect,” and wrapped his arms tightly around Steve’s waist.

He was probably going to suffocate before the movie was even halfway finished, but honestly, he couldn’t think of a better way to go.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this fic, and have a moment, I would really appreciate knowing your thoughts in the comments! Thank you very much :)
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr](https://padraigendragon.tumblr.com/)!


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